Wuchak

***A combination slasher/haunted house flick that improves upon the original*** Members of a family coalesce at their secluded stone manor in upstate New York to commemorate the passing of one member sixteen years prior, but the grim gathering is hindered by a masked madman with an axe, a couple of lowlife thugs and… a haunting! “Dementia 13” (2017) is a remake of the 1963 original by Francis Ford Coppola, which was basically a low-rent knock-off of “Psycho” (1960) produced by Roger Corman. That said, it wasn’t an exact imitation and had enough to distinguish it; the original upped the ante in the slasher genre, which was in its infancy at the time, and obviously influenced movies in the soon-to-come slasher boom of the late 70s-80s. Thankfully, this version of “Dementia 13” is all-around better and in living COLOR. There are enough changes in the plot/characters to keep things fresh and interesting. It also eliminates confusing elements of the original, like the two bodies of water that weren’t properly delineated. And, although 8 minutes longer, the film’s still streamlined and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Yet the first half is superior to the second half, which is highlighted by the eerie introduction to the castle-like manor, the establishment of the characters and their story, as well as the stunning Ana Isabelle as Louise. Unfortunately, her part is rather small, but Channing Pickett (Rose) and Marianne Noscheze (Billie) are okay on the female front. Meanwhile Julia Campanelli is effective as the mentally dubious matriarch. The situation speeds-up in the second half and the twists & turns are sometimes awkward, similar to the somewhat contrived & clumsy second half of “Psycho II” (1983). Still, the movie improves on Coppola’s original and there’s enough good here if you’re in the mode for a flick that combines two horror genres: slasher and haunted house. The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes and was shot in upstate New York. GRADE: B/B-